1977 Class News- Fall 2015

Denise Swan Isacson wrote, “In June 2014, I achieved my “goal” of having a little place in my adopted country of Sweden and a little 2-BR condo here in the U.S on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. This coming November, I’ll mark 37 years with Delta – with no end in sight as the job is still too much fun! My husband retired from GA Tech/Savannah last year and keeps quite busy with consulting projects, golf/tennis and traveling. We just returned from a week in Croatia celebrating our 25th anniversary. Liv (23) recently got a promotion at the corporate headquarters of The Fresh Market Shoppes in Greensboro, North Carolina. My stepdaughter, Jonina presented us with a beautiful granddaughter, Iris on 10 March. In June, my mother (91!) and I were able to meet Baby Iris in Stockholm on our way to Reykjavik, Iceland. Katherine Kluth Rohm and Greg Rohm are both still working in Maryland renovating an old fixer upper they just purchased closer to town in the Towson area. They spend as much time as they can in Delaware were they enjoy lots of bicycling. Their family is gradually spreading across the country so they also enjoy traveling for visits and sightseeing. “Still marveling at how our kids got to be grownups so quickly!” Martha Homnack Armenti and husband Bob sold their home in Roland Park and moved across the street into a condo in preparation for a post-retirement adventure–teaching in an international school. “In June, we retired from our long and wonderful careers at City and Poly, then we accepted teaching assignments at Sturgis Charter School in Hyannis, Massachusetts. I’m teaching only two sections of sophomores so there’s time to explore the Cape. We bought used bikes to ride to and from work and we’ve discovered the Cape Cod Bike Trail which winds between pine trees and along cranberry bogs soon to be harvested. Classmates who want to make the Cape a destination, please let me know! marmenti55@hotmail.com We’re holding onto our Baltimore condo so we can return as we please and again next summer when the school year is over. We’re not sure how long we’ll be up here in the long run. The renewable contract is just for a year. Labor Day weekend Sarah Kingman Matthews and Barrie Briscoe Reightler joined Elaine Patry Jones in Boothbay Harbor, Maine for 5 days of fabulous weather, sightseeing, storytelling and loads of lobster eating. “We stayed at Burnt Island Lighthouse which Elaine has re-purposed as an educational and tourist facility using only private funds. Staying on the island couldn’t have been more quaint and fun! While there, we read an email from Jayne VanVliet Davilli and also talked with Ruth Ann Oyer Shaffer who had just celebrated the birth of another grandchild. Elaine is in charge of the Maine Sate Aquarium and sets up marine educational programs for schools all over the state of Maine. Barrie is the director of publications for Maryland Horse Breeders Association. Sarah is recently retired and very busy with a variety of volunteer activities. She often visits with Professor Kay Graf (Food Science and Marriage and Family Professor) who is now 93. The three of us can’t wait to do this again and hope our kayaking and hiking skills will still be up for it!” Sharon Thorpe Kourtz shares: “It was fun being in a Washington Area Hyundai commercial in June… Paul and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary (and my 60th birthday) by taking a breathtaking “Sea Puffer” cruise to Alaska in July…Our son Collin is serving with the Mercy Volunteer Corps in the emergency room at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore… It was delightful to share a summer afternoon catching up with Martha Homnack Armenti. It is amazing how the years fly by… The Kourtz family participated in a Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Walk at the Baltimore Zoo in mid-September… Paul and I still enjoy Irish ceili and set dancing… I am a receptionist for Fairfax County—two miles from home! I hope to retire in 2018.” Here is some news from me…Elizabeth Anderson Comer: Anne is a freshman at Bard in Berlin and loving the city. We are leaving to visit her tonight and then attend Jacob’s Cambridge graduation next week. We will see Margaret there as well as she is beginning her Ph.D. at Jesus College. I love my archaeology career and also volunteer at the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society. Really fun…check it out at www.catoctinfurnace.org. We are having some great events and need volunteers so contact me if you have extra time and love history! Send some news my way so we can keep up the class of 1977 tradition of never missing a column!

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